The Alternative Bank (AltBank) has finalised a risk-sharing pharma financing deal for industrial pharmacists across Nigeria to support local pharmaceutical production, distribution, and supply chains.
This initiative is triggered by the discovery that Africa carries about a quarter of the world’s disease burden but imports nearly 97 per cent of its pharmaceuticals, a weakness made clear during the COVID-19 pandemic. This heavy reliance on imports leaves Nigeria’s medicine security especially fragile.
As a result, it has reached out to industrial pharmacists across Nigeria to collaborate on finding solutions.
“Pharma and medicine security and sovereignty are essential to Nigeria’s survival,” Jekwu Ozoemene, Group Executive at The Alternative Bank, stated. “We are positioned to partner with all stakeholders to make this a reality.”
Ozoemene, in an interview with the Association of Industrial Pharmacists, said that as a fully licensed non-interest bank, AltBank deploys a unique model of patient capital of asset-backed, risk-sharing financing structures, which aligns repayment schedules with a business’ actual cash flow rather than imposing rigid loan stipulations. This thoughtfully structured financing is designed to grow sustainably alongside the businesses it funds.
To support this vision, the Bank has rolled out targeted healthcare-focused products, including stock, vendor, and distributor financing, alongside supply chain financing and revolving drug funds nationwide.
He said the Bank is also facilitating broader systemic improvements through health insurance schemes, health management information systems, capital market access, and Banking-as-a-Service platforms. These solutions are currently being scaled through strategic partnerships with State Health Boards to ensure quality drugs reach Nigerians at lower costs.
Beyond immediate healthcare outcomes, this localised approach addresses broader macroeconomic challenges facing the nation.
By substituting pharmaceutical imports with domestic production, Ozoemene said the initiative aims to significantly reduce the sector’s reliance on foreign exchange, thereby easing pressure on the local currency. Furthermore, catalysing industrial-scale pharmaceutical manufacturing will stimulate job creation across the entire value chain, from laboratory research and quality control to logistics and retail distribution, fostering robust economic resilience.
Ozoemene signaled the Bank’s intent to look far beyond standard trade financing to build true industrial capacity. “We don’t only want to finance the company that imports the most products,” he explained.
“We also want to finance the industrial pharmacist establishing a WHO-compliant manufacturing plant to produce essential medicines locally. We want to back the researcher working on new formulations for malaria treatments or hypertension drugs designed specifically for the Nigerian demographic.”
This approach to healthcare inherently aligns with the core principles of non-interest banking, which prioritises investments that generate positive social impact alongside sustainable financial returns. By channeling capital into projects that directly preserve human life and enhance public well-being, the Bank is reinforcing its mandate to operate as an ethical financial catalyst, ensuring that funding is purposefully directed toward tangible, life-saving infrastructure rather than speculative ventures.
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